Running on hills/pavement

[David]

Hello, just a quick question. For the time being, my only
place to run is the area around my house, which is pretty
hilly. Since it's Spring, I'm also relegated to running on
the paved road. I know these two things should be avoided,
so what I'm wondering is should I bother running now, or
wait till things dry up a bit more?

I'm 17, have been running on and off for the past couple of
years, maybe 20km/week at most. I haven't had any serious
injuries yet(just plenty of sore muscles). I want to get
more serious about it now though, and I'd like to do it
right without killing my knees.

Thanks, -David

[Dot]

David wrote:

> Hello, just a quick question. For the time being, my only
> place to run is the area around my house, which is pretty
> hilly. Since it's Spring, I'm also relegated to running on
> the paved road. I know these two things should be avoided,
> so what I'm wondering is should I bother running now, or
> wait till things dry up a bit more?

I guess it would depend on how long this is your only option
and what your goals are and time frame? If "spring" is 2
days, maybe 2 weeks, like Alaska, then you might wait it out
if it's that big a deal. If spring is longer, like the 3
months the calendars indicate, I'd start running or at least
walking some or find an alternative.

Do your paved roads have gravel or dirt edges where you
could run to avoid pavement? Are the hills substantial (say,
15% slope or more for 1km or more) that they really are an
issue for muscle overuse unless you work up to them or are
they gentle undulations that provide variation for the feet
rather than the repetitiveness of flat?

I'm not sure why you're limited to running only around your
house on paved, hilly roads. Are your other alternatives
normally trail that's now soggy between snowshoe running and
regular running or track that's under snow or flood waters
that have cut off access to where you normally run? Sorry,
but I'm really not sure what "wait till things dry up a bit
more" mean? unless waiting for trails to dry after breakup
or it's a rainy season where you live?

FWIW, some of my trails have been getting rather icy or
soggy as snow decays then refreezes, so I've run in some
wet, partially slushy fields (sogginess wasn't as deep as
trail, and grass covered the ice) - just coat up the feet
with vaseline under the socks in drainable running shoes and
run (admittedly, I didn't get it right the first time, but
did the 2nd, at least for short runs). Running in 6-8in tall
wet grass has it's own issues, but that's the best I could
do that day, and I was going to run that day.

I guess I"m really wondering whether the limitation is real
or whether you just need some help with creative thinking as
to where to run to avoid paved roads. I know I started with
one type of running thinking that was all there was, then
sorta expanded horizons in last couple years. This group can
open one's eyes to some variety.

>
> I'm 17, have been running on and off for the past couple
> of years, maybe 20km/week at most. I haven't had any
> serious injuries yet(just plenty of sore muscles). I want
> to get more serious about it now though, and I'd like to
> do it right without killing my knees.

It's good you're being cautious, but some more hints as to
limitations and expected duration as well as your goals
would be helpful for us to help you.

Dot snowshoeing yesterday, mud in parts of town today, what
will be on the ground tomorrow morning? (and subzero F 2
nights last week)

--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd
Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

[Edward]

google@mrpotato.cjb.net (David) wrote in message news:<58e6574f.0404051305.75a79c84@posting.google.com>...
> Hello, just a quick question. For the time being, my only
> place to run is the area around my house, which is pretty
> hilly. Since it's Spring, I'm also relegated to running on
> the paved road. I know these two things should be avoided,
> so what I'm wondering is should I bother running now, or
> wait till things dry up a bit more?
>
> I'm 17, have been running on and off for the past couple
> of years, maybe 20km/week at most. I haven't had any
> serious injuries yet(just plenty of sore muscles). I want
> to get more serious about it now though, and I'd like to
> do it right without killing my knees.
>
> Thanks, -David

I've been running on paved roads for the past 21 years, it's
quite hilly here too, and have had no injuries (beyond calf
strains) to speak of (though I did suffer with Morton's
Neuroma, which was related to buying shoes of the wrong
size). The important things are a) good shoes, regularly
replaced and b) good form (not too much bouncing up and
down, plenty of bounding forward.)

Edward
--
The reading group's reading group:
http://www.bookgroup.org.uk (http://www.bookgroup.org.uk/)

[Mike Maxwell]

David wrote:
> Hello, just a quick question. For the time being, my only
> place to run is the area around my house, which is pretty
> hilly. Since it's Spring, I'm also relegated to running on
> the paved road. I know these two things should be avoided

Well, I don't like running on pavement, but I go out of my
way to run on hills. It's much more interesting than
running on the flat. Where I live (south New Jersey), hills
are very hard to come by--I drive six or eight miles to a
park with hills. They're short, but steep. Some are so
steep that I go up them (not running, more like crawling),
but don't go down--I take another trail that is not so
steep, for fear of slipping.

The only time I've had trouble (pain and stiffness) after
running on hills was the time I ran down the Grand Canyon.
(I won't say I ran back up again
:-).)

Mike McSwell

[Rick++]

Hills are great for running. As with everything else
gradually get used to them.

[Donovan Rebbech]

In article <58e6574f.0404051305.75a79c84@posting.google.com>, David wrote:
> Hello, just a quick question. For the time being, my only
> place to run is the area around my house, which is pretty
> hilly. Since it's Spring, I'm also relegated to running on
> the paved road. I know these two things should be avoided,
> so what I'm wondering is should I bother running now, or
> wait till things dry up a bit more?

Pavement is fine for a lot of people -- depends on whether
you're prone to certain types of injury though.

A word of caution -- the human body really does not like
surprises or sudden changes, so ease into it. If you're
running in the hills, take it easy especially to start with.
Running uphill and downhill both beat up your muscles pretty
badly -- impact on downhills stresses the quads, increasing
stride rate on downhills stresses your hamstrings, the
uphills work your calves. So go easy.

> I'm 17,

Depending on whether you've stopped growing or how long
you've stopped growing for, you may still be vulnerable to
impact injuries like stress fractures. If you're just out of
a growth spurt this is something to watch for, but if you're
a couple of years past it, it may not be as much of a
problem. Pay careful attention to nutrition if you're
running. Consider taking a calcium supplement or just drink
a lot of milk.

> plenty of sore muscles). I want to get more serious about
> it now though, and I'd like to do it right without killing
> my knees.

The best thing you can do for your future as a runner at the
moment is to train consistently. Maintaining consistent but
modest milage will lay down a good foundation for future
years, improve your aerobic conditioning, and leave you
fairly well prepared for short distances (800m - 5km). I'd
recommend emphasising the shorter distances until you're
done with high school. Being a good miler or 5k runner will
prepare you for being a good 10k-marathon runner later on.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/